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I was invited to attend the Grand Opening of Sobeys newest location in Nolan Hill, Calgary. This store is market-inspired with an improved food shopping experience offering convenience, wholesome food, and is stocked with the freshest products. I brought my son with me since he was out of school early. It didn’t take us long to get there and the sun was shining, making for a great day to explore!

We entered the store and were right in the produce department. As we meandered through the produce picking out a few things to take home with us, we discovered a living wall of greens. Quite an impressive display of greens and unique discoveries if I do say so myself.

Sobeys Nolan Hill living wall of greens

Moving on, we came across the Fresh Kitchen. Or what we realized later to be a small part of the fresh kitchen. Rows of small and larges salads ready to eat presented themselves to us with additional add on items within reach. They looked so good! As we moved through the store we found the Fresh Kitchen goes on and on offering up an array of ready to eat entrees, sides, salads and hot pizza from their Al Taglio stone oven.

Sobeys North Hill Fresh Kitchen

Next we arrived in the meat and seafood departments. My kids always love visiting the live lobsters in the tanks whenever they can find them. It’s like they have their own private conversation while I shop. Being from the Coast, I was pleased to see a large variety of fresh seafood, and regular or marinated meat. My kind of surf and turf.

Sobeys North Hill Seafood Department

Right across is the cheese department. I had my eye on it the whole time. I’ve always loved the cheese counters in the Sobeys stores as they feature Canadian, local, and specialty cheeses. They were sampling some parmesan and the boy & I had a moment of happy silence while eating it. Cheese has always been one of my favourite things, and we admittedly spent extra time in this department.

Sobeys North Hill Cheese & Deli

By this point I was seriously getting a little lost. The store is so big, but I did manage to find the Sushi section. The sushi is hand-rolled daily by a Sushi Chef. All of the items have unique flavours, and you can even buy supplies for making your own sushi at home. Winning.

Sobeys North Hill Sushi

We also happily discovered the Bakery. What a treat this was and another favourite in this store. I gained 10lbs just standing there drooling. From cakes, cupcakes, delicious breads, to chocolate covered everything, they have so much to offer. Yes we did indulge a little bit too.

Sobeys Nolan Hill Bakery

As we rounded the corner with a basket full of goodies, we found the Natural Source Section. It was massive. They carry thousands of natural and organic choices plus I discovered a whole row of Gluten Free items, and my favourite organic free trade coffee, Kicking Horse. Love Jamie Oliver and seeing his smiling face throughout the store. His dishes are gorgeous to. #ChristmasIdeas

Sobeys North Hill Natural Source section

Checking out the new store with my boy, stopping to have a slice of pizza in their little eating area/cafe, and enjoying the freshness of everything made this visit exceptional. The staff were always there ready to help, or answer questions, or in my case fix the glass case at the cheese counter that came unhinged as I leaned it to grab a piece of cheese (whoops). I’m looking forward to bringing the entire family back to hit up the seafood counter, bakery, sushi department, and cheese & deli department again. Any maybe stop for pizza and, and…..

I have received consideration from Sobeys’ media partners in exchange for this content. Sobeys has not reviewed these claims and is not responsible for the content. All opinions are my own.

Giveaway:

To celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Sobeys Nolan Hill Store, I am giving away not 1 but 2 – $50 Share & Care Sobeys Gift Cards! This contest is only open to residents of Canada.

Two readers will win a $50 Share & Care Gift Card to Sobeys (valid all over Canada at any participating stores) .

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is follow the prompts below.Winners will be randomly selected on Tuesday, November 17th. An email confirmation will be sent out and winners will need to respond within 48 hours of receiving email to claim their prize.

Vegetable lasagna’s have been a favourite of mine since the 90’s when I was single, living in Vancouver, and involved in weekly office potlucks. Then I moved to Calgary, got hitched, had kids, and well settled down with a prominently meat eating family. These days lasagna’s in our house have some form of meat in them, and husband advises he “misses” the meat when it’s not there. Extraordinary one can actually miss the meat, but who am I to judge.

Recently I was offered a challenge by Catelli to create a Gluten Free Lasagna using their new Gluten Free Lasagne noodles, a first-of-its-kind pasta made from a delicious blend of four grains; white rice, brown rice, corn and quinoa. I knew I wanted to bring vegetarian lasagne back into the routine, so I went for it.

Lasagna noodles have sure evolved over the years. I remember making lasagna, and having to boil the noodles first. What a treat that was. When oven ready noodles came out I did the happy dance. The Catelli® Gluten Free Lasagne noodles are also an oven-ready noodle that does not need to be boiled or cooked beforehand. It’s the little things like this that appeal so much to a busy life style.

Additionally Catelli has a delicious line of Gluten Free Pastas including Penne, Fusilli, Macaroni, Spaghetti, and recently launched Linguine. Their Gluten Free Lasagne noodle has been voted by consumers as a 2015 Best New Product Award winner.

After sampling this lasagna, I can tell you first hand you wouldn’t know it was gluten free pasta – it’s delicious. In fact I tested it on our vegetarian baby sitter, and she loved it. She had no clue it was gluten free. These noodles are available at all major retailers across Canada, in the pasta aisle.

I did something I’ve never done before when making lasagna, I topped it with a little smoked cheese. The distinct hint of smokiness elevates this lasagna to a whole new level. While this recipe may have a few extra steps, it’s well worth it.

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About Me

Food and lifestyle blogger since 2006. A wahm who writes about events, wine, family adventures, recipes and eating out in Calgary, Alberta and beyond.

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Join me on my adventures both in and out of the kitchen! We travel in search of new experiences, go on adventures both near and far and cook in the kitchen creating new recipes, re-create recipes from previous generations, and seek out crazy food combinations yet sticking true to comfort food and simple recipes.